With a warts-and-all Disney+ documentary about Baywatch, some of the show’s biggest heart-throbs have reunited to share secrets about the TV series that made David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson superstars.
“Baywatch was synonymous with a certain stereotype,” admits former model David Chokachi, who became one of the show’s biggest teen hunks when he joined the cast in 1995.
“But when they see our every story and personal journey, I think they’re going to go, ‘Wow! I shouldn’t have been so quick to judge. I shouldn’t have dismissed them as human beings or actors.’”
David, 56, is just one of 35 members of the original cast and creators who agreed to be interviewed for After Baywatch: Moment In The Sun. Former child star Nicole Eggert produced the show, who played Summer Quinn in the original show.
Now a mum to two daughters, Nicole, 52, who is battling breast cancer, spent five years working with superfan-turned-director Matt Felker to convince her former co-stars to spill the beans on what happened behind the scenes.
Jeremy Jackson was just 11 years old when he beat Leonardo DiCaprio to win the role of David Hasselhoff’s on-screen son Hobie Buchannon in 1991. It was the start of a period of “epic highs and bitter lows” for him.
In the four-part docuseries, he makes the shocking admission that he was using meth during his final season on Baywatch as his life spiralled into drug and steroid addiction. He was even jailed for a stabbing in 2017.
But Jeremy has since managed to turn his life around. He still has many fond memories of his time on the world’s sexiest show, which ran from 1989 to 1999.
“My whole life is basically centred around recovery, mentorship and helping other men get their lives back together,” he says. Jeremy adds that some of the prisoners he now works with say Baywatch was also very popular in jails.
Jeremy urges all fans to check out the doco to “take a look at the story behind the story”. He admits it was incredible to be part of a show that saw 1.2 billion people tune in each week to see “sexy people running in slow-mo” in those famous red togs! “It’s crazy – it’s a trip,” he says.
Aussie actor Jaason Simmons, 54, came out as gay years after the show. He says he had to keep his sexuality a secret to keep his job and admits he probably won’t watch the doco.
“I was always nervous for my scenes and never watched any of my stuff unless someone forced me to,” explains the star. He played lifeguard Logan Fowler for four years from 1994.
While seemingly half the world tuned in to see the genetically blessed cast wearing not very much during the ’90s, Baywatch was dogged with criticisms about bad acting and scripts, and it’s clear the bad reviews still sting.
David Chokachi – who played aspiring Olympic swimmer-turned-lifeguard Cody Madison for four seasons and had an on-screen love affair with Pammy’s CJ Parker – says he hopes people will view the actors and the show more kindly now.
He freely admits he was “not good” at acting. However, he was given intensive training in the pool “because you can’t fake it” if you’re playing a champion Olympic swimmer.
“They pretty much picked me up from the billboards and threw me on the show,” David says. He adds that producers didn’t pay any of the actors very much. However, many used the platform to make money through outside deals and sponsorships.
He also says that despite the critics and the skimpy costumes, Baywatch was ahead of its time. It pushed for women’s equality by giving females as much action as the male actors.
Michael Bergin, who played JD Darius, started out as a Calvin Klein model. However, unlike his co-stars, he abandoned acting altogether after leaving the show in 2001.
“Baywatch was probably one of the best things that’s ever happened to me,” declares Michael, 55. He became a successful real estate agent after struggling to get acting jobs after leaving.
“I love that I was on the show. I love telling people that I was on the show – it just lightens up the room. It lightens up people’s faces because everyone knows Baywatch and everyone loved Baywatch. I’m proud of it.”
A fond farewell to lifeguard ‘Newmie’
Just days after reuniting with his Baywatch co-stars for the doco’s premiere, Michael “Newmie” Newman passed away. He lost his long battle with Parkinson’s disease at the age of 68. The actor, the only real-life lifeguard on the show, appeared in 150 episodes. That’s the most of any star besides The Hoff.
In recent times, Mike admitted living with the disease for the past 18 years had given him “a lot of thinking time”. He added, “I am cherishing the days I get to be on this earth with family and friends.”
Watch After Baywatch: Moment In The Sun now on Disney+.
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